


Slaughtered Veils and Bloody Trails

by EmberYouth



Category: Topp Dogg (Band), 크나큰 | KNK (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Gen, Murder, Organized Crime, There is violence but not too much, Topp Dogg are mostly for cameos only
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-05-21 10:53:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14914035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberYouth/pseuds/EmberYouth
Summary: Jeong Inseong loves working as a junior detective for the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. The job is tough, he has to obey orders from the seniors, but he isn't complaining. It was what he always wanted to do.But when the entire nation goes into panic mode over the supposed reappearance of a serial killer, Inseong finds himself being thrown into clues and indications that are nothing but dead ends and red herrings. His once enjoyable job begins to turn into nothing less than a nightmare, endangering those close to him.He has never regretted joining this particular line of work before, but is he going to regret it now? Will his current mental and physical capability be enough to bring the victims to justice, or will he end up being a disappointment to the police agency?





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> I'm cross-posting this from my AFF account of the same name, so don't worry, I'm not plagiarising it or anything.  
> The entire multi-chaptered story is going to be Inseong-centric, and for once, I'm not going to have any romance in it at all. For this particular story, I believe that romance would spoil the mood of the plot.  
> While I haven't watched too many crime and detective shows, I have read quite a few books of this genre, and I hope my writing won't disappoint any of you (if you ever decide to read this, that is).  
> I have tweaked the ranks in the police agency to my liking, since I'm comfortable with writing that way. The Topp Dogg members are mostly there as cameos, so they won't have much screen time.  
> For this particular story, their looks will be based on their recent comeback (Remain era), with their ages as follows:  
> Kim Youjin- 27  
> Park Seungjun- 27  
> Jeong Inseong- 26  
> Kim Jihun- 25  
> Oh Heejun- 24

**One**

 

Letting out a sigh as he massaged his shoulder and the back of his neck, Jeong Inseong rolled his shoulders back in an attempt to loosen and relax the aching muscles. Spending almost all day seated at his desk, working his butt off as he hunched over the keyboard typing out reports for various cases, he would almost always end up with his nape and back paining at the end of the day. _Another day done and dealt with,_ he thought as he saved his typed up files, then stretched his arms above his head. A quick look around told him that most of the people on their floor had gone home for the day, save for a few of his colleagues. Being a junior detective often required him to stay at the police agency for longer hours than the higher ranks, and sometimes even work overtime.

He reached out for his brown shoulder bag that was stashed away in a corner of his cluttered desk, and began stuffing his belongings inside. Notepad, a couple pens, mobile phone, bottle of water, everything was thrown into the bag as he stood up, and he picked up the gun assigned to him, holstering it at the back of his waist. Inseong put on his jacket that had been slung over the chair, quickly patting the pockets to ensure that he hadn't lost his badge or his wallet.

"Jeong Inseong?" A voice called out, and he resisted the urge to groan as he turned around, looking at the senior detective -- quite possibly the only one of his rank who was still working -- questioningly.

"Yes?" He asked politely, although he knew exactly why the guy had stopped him. _Guess who has to make a trip to the chief's office,_ he pondered. For some reason, their police chief always liked to call them in the evening, and never before six in the evening.

"The chief is asking for you," the man said, jerking his thumb towards the office to a side of the floor, before giving Inseong a little wave, signaling that he was leaving. Once the junior detective was sure that the senior was not watching him anymore, he rolled his eyes, sighing as he set his bag back down on the desk, and briskly walked over to the cabin. He knocked on it softly, going in after hearing a "come in" from within.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" He said, hoping that he hadn't done anything wrong to invoke the older man's anger. Looking back on his actions, he didn't think he would be reprimanded for any bad behaviour; he always worked diligently, rarely giving any of his superiors the chance to complain. There was, however, always a little doubt in his mind if his work was as per the expectations of the chief.

"I did," police chief Han Junseo said with a short nod as he set his pen down on the desk, and Inseong could see that the man had been working on a few case files. To be completely honest, Chief Han was the only senior he knew who worked for long hours, his dedication towards the country truly admirable. He could be a little strict and harsh sometimes, but the younger guy knew it was for everyone's benefit.

Chief Han got up from his chair, and Inseong stood a little straighter, watching his posture as the man walked away from the desk. "Detective, what is the status of the report for the Choi Hyeon robbery case?" He asked, gazing at the junior intently as the latter cleared his throat.

"I'm almost done with it, Chief," he replied, wondering where the older guy was going with this.

"Good. I want the finished case file on my desk tomorrow morning, all right?"

Inseong barely held back the urge to widen his eyes, nodding hurriedly, a neutral look on his face. "Definitely, sir."

 

With his head hung low, Inseong trudged out of the police station, all the required papers of the case stuffed inside his shoulder bag. He had stayed inside for another hour and a half, completing as much of the report as he could. The rest, he would have to finish at home by pulling yet another all-nighter. After entering into this profession, he had lost count of how many nights he had to go sleepless for, be it because of field work, or desk work. Now, it was already past ten at night, and he wondered how many hours he would have to spend on this one case file only. It had been quite a confusing case, with the robbers going into hiding for three months after the incident.

The junior detective let out a yawn, covering his mouth with one hand as he walked home. Thankfully, the apartment where he lived with four other men was not too far from his place of work, and it took not more than fifteen to twenty minutes of brisk walking to reach home.

As he was walking through a darker, quieter area of Seoul, his eyes fell upon the road ahead of him, illuminated faintly by the lone streetlight in that block. He halted, however, as he saw a shadow run across the block. Inseong blinked, whoever or whatever it was, hadn't been visible for more than two seconds. Shaking his head, he let out the breath he had been holding; for all he knew, it could have been just a cat. _Stop being so paranoid, silly,_ he scolded himself as he resumed the walk back home.

 

_He had seen everything very well._

_The blood having seeped out of numerous wounds on the body, now dried up. The flesh spilling out where the cuts had been made. A red, gaping hole in the lower part of the man. The hand that lay limp in his own, having been separated from the rest of the body, just like the other limbs. Hands all over him, trying to take him away from the gruesome scene. But most importantly, that dull, lifeless, cold look in those hazel eyes as they stared at him unwaveringly, staring into his soul._

_Seeing your role model lying dismembered in front of you was never a good thing._

"-yung... -jin-hyung... Youjin-hyung?" A soft, gentle voice fell on his ears, and he jolted awake in his chair, turning to look at the blond-haired young man watching him worriedly. "Are you okay, hyung? You're sweating a lot," Kim Jihun pointed out, straightening up slightly, his hand on the older guy's shoulder.

Kim Youjin brought a hand up, wiping off beads of sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his shirt. No wonder Jihun was surprised, the weather in Seoul was turning colder by the day, and there was no reason to sweat. He glanced around, struggling to get a bearing of his surroundings.

"Looks like you fell asleep while working again," the other provided helpfully, pointing towards the desk where Youjin had dozed off, propping his chin up on his hand, with his elbow on the surface. Scratching his head, the brunet leaned over the desk, peering at the papers lying on it, scattered all over. _Oh, that's right._ He was going through the files of a couple of his patients. "Ah. I really need to get this done with by tomorrow," Youjin said, dragging his chair closer to the table.

"Hyung, come on. You need to sleep," Jihun insisted, not letting go of the elder's arm, "you can continue this in the morning. Have you even had dinner yet?"

"I knew this is what I would get for becoming a doctor, Jihun. I must do this right now," he protested, trying to get back to his work, but the other guy was not having any of it.

"How are you even going to treat your patients if you're not feeling well yourself? Now come on, get your butt off that chair, you've been glued to it ever since you came home," the blond said, successfully pulling Youjin up and out of the room. He had a firm hold on the older man's arm as he dragged him to the dining room, that faced the kitchen, forcefully making him sit down at the table. Youjin just gave up on his attempts, burying his face in his hands with a soft sigh.

"I'm supposed to be older than you, yet you manhandle me around like that," he joked, peering over his shoulder at the blond, who was heating something up in the microwave oven. The younger chuckled, shrugging even as his back was to Youjin.

"I guess being a dance teacher and choreographer helps in improving my strength, too," he replied, turning around to glance at the clock on the wall. A few minutes past ten-thirty.

"Hasn't he come home yet?" Youjin asked right as they heard the sound of the front door opening. The two exchanged smiles, the older shaking his head.

"Speak of the devil," Jihun said, loud enough for his best friend to hear.

"I heard that!" Inseong shouted back from the entrance, quickly walking inside to peek into the dining room as Jihun laughed. "Are the other two asleep already?" The oldest of the three nodded in response, followed by a yawn that he didn't even try to conceal.

"Have you eaten anything?" The dancer asked Inseong as the latter walked over to the bedroom the two of them shared, dumping his bag on top of a desk. The detective came back out towards the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of water from the dining table.

"Not really, but I'm not hungry."

"Nonsense," the blond replied sternly as he took another bowl, adding a generous helping of ramyeon and shoving it in the microwave, before handing Youjin his own bowl of the noodles and a pair of chopsticks. "You're not sleeping on an empty stomach. Besides, I know you can't resist Seungjun-hyung's ramyeon," he added, cocking an eyebrow at Inseong. The other stared at his friend silently for a few seconds as the doctor began eating, then shook his head with a sigh, giving up on arguing.

"True."

 

The phone kept on the nightstand next to the bed vibrated loudly, the vibrations breaking the silence of the night as they rang annoyingly, waking up both men from their deep slumbers. Jihun groaned audibly, shifting in his bed till he was facing away from the phone.

"What time is it even right now?" He mumbled as Inseong reached over for the device, squinting at the display through the darkness of the room.

"It's barely past five," he said, answering the phone as soon as he read his partner's name on the caller ID. "Detective Jeong Inseong."

"Inseong, you need to come over here, this lady is convinced that her dead husband is, in her words, very much alive," came Shin Jiho's voice from the other end, as well as faint sounds of a woman wailing. "Please hurry up, we need to do everything we can to persuade her that he died a year ago." He disconnected the call, sounding more and more desperate at the end. With a loud sigh, the junior detective sat up and shoved himself out of bed, switching on the light of the bathroom connected to their bedroom as he brushed his teeth, and began to wear his uniform.

"You've got to be kidding me, Inseong. A call at five in the morning?" Jihun asked incredulously, his voice rising slightly in frustration. After all, the other had been awake till almost two at night, working on some police reports. Inseong merely shrugged, fastening the buttons of his shirt as he looked over at the younger.

"We're some of the most junior ranked officers of the agency, so it's always us who have to take care of such calls," he explained, checking in his bag for his notepad and a pen, as well as his gun holster that he wore around his waist.

"And? What is it this time?" Jihun sounded sleepy, already starting to fall back asleep.

"Apparently some middle-aged lady who thinks her husband is still alive. I'm sure she is being delusional, most probably because she couldn't cope with his death a year ago," Inseong deduced, knowing that he was just speaking to himself, judging by the soft snores being emitted from his roommate's side of the room. With a low chuckle and a shake of his head, he quickly but softly padded out of the room on his socked feet, drinking some water from the kitchen before heading out of the house while wearing his jacket and pocketing his phone.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't be too greedy and reveal any of the main plot, that's why I just decided to show what their everyday lives are like. I hope it didn't seem too rushed.  
> I really, really hope you stick with me till the end of this story (it might take very long, almost a year, or maybe even longer, depending on my schedule), because I have big plans for it. I'm already done with all the main plot points, now only the execution of the story is left.  
> I hope you liked it!


	2. Two

**Two**

 

"Well, that didn't go too bad," Inseong commented as he walked, glancing at the guy next to him. "She was a sweet old lady, easily persuaded; I don't know why you created such a fuss about it when you called me."

Jiho rolled his eyes with a loud sigh, shaking his head firmly. "That's because this is the second time she called us about the matter," he explained as the other looked at him in bafflement, eyes slightly wide. "The first time, Kim Hansol and Kim Byungjoo were assigned to talk to her."

He had Inseong's full attention now, because knowing their two weird colleagues, things would have definitely ended up in an extremely hilarious or a terribly embarrassing way. With the two of them, there was literally no in-between. With an interested frown, the guy stared at Jiho, silently prompting his partner to continue.

Jiho let out a small chuckle as he recalled the events of that day; although he hadn't been witness to everything that had transpired, hearing the account of it from Hansol later during the day had been anything but unfunny.

"The woman was hell-bent on proving to everyone that Byungjoo was her son," he said, face breaking into a wide grin as he shook his head. "It took Hansol almost two hours to carefully go through all her belongings, without disturbing anything too much, just to be able to lay his hands on every photograph he could find of the lady with her son. All the while, she held on to Byungjoo tightly, like a prized possession, only for him to find out that he looked nothing like her son."

Inseong let out a hearty laugh at that, opening the door of a very familiar café, holding it open as he let Jiho go inside. "So when was she finally convinced about her dead husband?" He asked, the two of them walking over to the front counter.

"It took them almost an entire day. Honestly, after they told me about it later, I didn't think she would be this dramatic again. Which means..." Jiho trailed off, wincing at his partner.

The other's face paled slightly, and he groaned softly.

"Which means that she might call us again."

The two junior detectives looked up as a tall, dark-haired man approached them from behind the counter, smiling brightly at them.

"Good morning boys," Park Seungjun said in his deep but calm voice, greeting the detectives with a pat each on their shoulders. Inseong grinned back widely at the older man, the latter being another one of his housemates, while Jiho responded with his usual polite smile.

"Good morning," they replied in unison.

"I'll have your breakfast sent to your table in a few minutes," Seungjun nodded, the smile never leaving his face as he gestured towards a table near one of the windows, and the other two bobbed their heads in a silent 'yes', before walking over to the table. This particular table might as well be called the 'Inseong and Jiho table', since that's where the two of them always sat, more out of habit than anything else. It was also a little off to the side of the café, where they had the privilege of some much-needed privacy, especially if they had to discuss a sensitive police case. Not that they were assigned to extremely important cases, though. Be it any police matter, their biggest contribution would be typing up the case files, and rarely any field work.

Ever since Inseong had started living together with the other four males, he had found out about the café Seungjun owned. It was a mere five-minute walk from the building of the police station where he worked, and he, along with his work partner, had begun to frequent the place for their breakfast every day. The café served a variety of simple, healthy, but delicious food, and over time, they had come to love it, so much so that they couldn't go even a day without eating anything there.

 

After their usual, hearty breakfast of toast, eggs and ramyeon, the two males exited the café, making their way to the police station as they exchanged light-hearted banter. They climbed up the stairs to the second floor, walking over to their respective desks that were positioned in front of each other. Jiho sat down with a soft sigh, whereas Inseong fished around in his bag for the case file he had been working on. After having -- or being forcefully fed -- dinner the previous night, he had spent another two to three hours working on the reports, and as he made his way over to the chief's cabin, he hoped it was sufficient.

Jiho looked up from the screen of his computer to see Inseong walking back to his desk, a faint smile on his face. "You look happy," he commented, to which the other shrugged.

"Chief Han said my reports were satisfactory," he replied, the smile growing wider as he sat down, filled with new vigour from the praise; it wasn't too much, but it helped boost his confidence nevertheless.

Despite the relatively good mood they were in, however, the two of them couldn't help but notice a certain tension in the overall atmosphere within just a few minutes of having arrived at their desks. Quite a few phones rang, more than a few times. While their colleagues or subordinates seemed pretty relaxed as they worked, some of their seniors were beginning to look nervous and on edge, maybe even worried. Their heads swivelled in the direction of the police chief's office as the door swung open noisily, and Chief Han walked out swiftly over to the elevator. The detectives exchanged a puzzled but slightly alarmed look; the chief rarely appeared this frazzled.

"I wonder what's going on," Inseong said, voicing his thoughts out loud just as he caught sight of Byungjoo and Hansol. The other two walked over and sat down at their desks, both sighing at the same time. Jiho frowned, blinking a couple times as his gaze rested on them.

"What's up with you two?" He asked, his frown deepening slightly as the two turned to them with equally exasperated expressions on their faces.

"Well," Hansol began, clearing his throat, "we're just going to get handed a lot more paperwork than we have ever seen in all our years of being police officers." He only received a light, backhanded smack to his arm from his partner, and Byungjoo shook his head as he took over.

"Don't be so dramatic, Hansol. Guys, remember the case of the organ trafficking ring?" He asked, his voice coming out lower than the usual hyperactive tone. Inseong nodded in reply, shrugging.

"Of course, I think very few Koreans are unaware of it. The traffickers killed more than a dozen people with perfectly healthy kidneys, removed the kidneys from the bodies, and chopped up the rest, dumping the pieces into trashcans all over the country."

The other three blinked, staring at the guy in wonder and bewilderment. Byungjoo let out a low whistle, while Hansol was starting to look a little green in the face.

"Should I be awed or scared of the fact that you said all of it so calmly?" Jiho said, directing the question towards no one in particular. Inseong could say nothing, he just shrugged again. He had always been more comfortable with anything related to blood and gore, having watched way too many horror movies and television shows than were recommended for someone his age. It took more than a considerable amount of gore to make his stomach churn.

He remembered, ten years ago, when his father had switched on the news channel that had relayed everything about the organ trafficking case. It had begun around a couple months ago, and in those two months, the police had already come across five dead bodies- three in the first month, and two in the second. What had followed thereafter had badly shaken up the whole of Korea, the trafficking ring claiming a total of seventeen bodies in an extremely short span of seven months.

Inseong was jolted out of his thoughts when Jiho spoke up once again, this time turning to the other two.

"But why did you two bring that up right now?"

Hansol and Byungjoo exchanged a quick glance, the former leaning over his desk towards their colleagues.

"Because it seems that the organ trafficking ring is back in action."

 

"Seriously?!"

The three held a finger each to their lips, immediately trying to shush Inseong even as the others began to stare at them. No wonder Inseong was dubbed the loudest person on the force. It was a good thing the Chief hadn't returned to his cabin.

"Keep it down, you overexcited bunny," Jiho hissed, using the nickname he had made for his partner due to the other's front teeth. "What's with your reaction?"

The 'bunny' leaned closer, his voice barely above a whisper as he looked at the others urgently. "That's the same park I walk by every night while going home," he explained, placing both hands on the table, "and I remember catching a glance of a fleeing shadow yesterday night." His eyes were wide from the thought of almost having run into one of the traffickers, but his voice held a hint of thrill.

"You don't have to sound so happy, you fool," Byungjoo was quick to chide him. "They could have killed you as well if they had seen you."

Inseong gave a sheepish smile at that, leaning back on his chair as he scratched his chin in thought. "Anyway. Any idea about who the victim was, or who has been assigned to this case?"

Not a second after he said that than they heard the elevator ding, the door opening and Chief Han walking out, striding urgently towards his office with Jeon Hojoon and Kim Taeyang, two of their senior officers, in tow.

Byungjoo turned to Inseong. "Does that answer part of your question?" The other could only nod, knowing that he wouldn't get to know a lot of the details of the case until he got a hold of the paperwork. Which would take a considerable amount of time to reach him and his fellow detectives, since he was positive that this case would be an extremely sensitive one, and most of the times, the reports for such cases were usually handled only by the officers in charge. He wished it wouldn't be the case during this time. He looked at his partner, only to see the latter staring after the trio.

"Taeyang-hyung got a huge one this time," he muttered, and Inseong's ears immediately picked it up.

"Wait, do you know Kim Taeyang on a more personal level?" He asked, brightening up slightly from the possibility of being able to get information about the case. Jiho, unaware of his partner's intentions, nodded innocently.

"Well, yes, we were both in the same police academy, you could say we're close," he admitted. The other two watched their colleagues carefully, wondering what exactly was going through the guy's mind. Quick as a flash, Inseong leaped out of his chair, clamping both hands down tightly on Jiho's shoulders. The three were frozen, stunned, as Inseong grinned.

"Could you ask him for the details of the case, pretty please with a cherry on top?" He asked, mustering the most pitiful expression he could manage.

"Are you silly? Of course not," the other retorted.

 

"Song Youngji, aged thirty-one, worked as a doctor at the Yeongyang County Hospital," Jiho relayed with a sigh as he sat at his desk, taking a breath before continuing, "she went missing sometime during eight to ten at night two days ago. She had left work a little after eight, but never reached home, which means she was most likely kidnapped on her way home from the hospital. Forensics haven't been able to arrive at a definite time of death yet, but they estimate that it was between five and eight in the morning yesterday."

He was rewarded with a wide grin from Inseong. "Thanks a lot partner, you are the best," he said, then turned serious again. "Doesn't it make you wonder, though? If she was killed yesterday morning, why did they wait for so long to dispose of her body?"

"Maybe they were intending to do something else with the dead body, but ended up making a change at the last moment?" Jiho said with a shrug.

"Jiho, the traffickers have been inactive for ten years, it's obvious they had a lot of time to plan things," Inseong said, shaking his head as he stared at the computer monitor in front of him. His attention, however, was not on his work. "Okay, so suppose you're right, suppose they had to make a change of plans. But then why would they wait for more than twenty-four hours to dump the body? Wouldn't they try to get rid of it as soon as possible?"

"What if the shadow you saw wasn't the culprit's in the first place?" His partner countered, and Inseong did not have any response to that.

"True," he muttered after a few seconds, "which is why I haven't told anyone about it. It could have been anyone, maybe even an animal," he said, dejected at having lost a possible lead. "Is everything else the same as the older cases?" He asked, to which Jiho nodded.

"The kidneys were the only thing missing from her body, which was chopped up into six parts- head, torso and four limbs. The cuts were made cleanly, and the kidneys have been extracted perfectly, like a professional doctor would do."

"Of course, we couldn't have expected anything else," Inseong said, "organ trafficking rings almost always include expert doctors."

"Anyway," the other interrupted, "it's not much use focusing too much on this case unless we have been assigned to it. Let's just concentrate on our reports." Inseong sighed, nodding reluctantly as he turned his attention back towards the screen, continuing what he was typing.

"The media is going to get wind of this very soon, though," he said. "Everything has become quite advanced than it was ten years ago."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I was typing this, I realised that this story is going to be very amateurish. I mean, I tried my best to do my research and stuff, but at the end of the day, I just decided to twist it all to my benefit. I don't really blame myself for it, though, because like I said, I haven't watched a single crime show in my life (except for one season of Castle but that was years ago). So guys, please please please don't lose interest in my story. I promise it will get more complicated and intriguing later.  
> I would really appreciate it if you guys let me know how you feel about this story; whether you like it or not, any constructive criticism would be really helpful, and I'm not lying when I say that the comments I receive on my works really make my day and I feel motivated enough to continue writing. (I also reply to ALL story comments I receive).


	3. Three

**Three**

 

Inseong found it funny, but unbelievable, how his predictions came true when he least wanted them to. By late afternoon, news about the dead body, and the possible return of the organ trafficking gang was plastered all over the leading news channels. While the saying did go as 'any publicity is good publicity', the entire police force of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency was aware of how sensitive this particular case was; it would have been better if the public didn't know about it. A few other senior officers apart from the two they had seen in the morning were seen making frequent trips to the chief's office, each time looking more grim than before.

"How many days do you reckon it will take for them to solve this one?" Hansol mused from his seat, his three colleagues looking over at him with raised eyebrows.

" _If_ they can solve it, the trafficking ring has been pretty elusive for the past ten years," Byungjoo muttered, tilting his body to the side just in time to dodge the pen thrown towards him by his partner.

"Do you have to be so pessimistic every time?"

"Quit it, guys!" Jiho hissed, effectively shushing them up while continuing to stare at his computer screen. His elbows were propped up on the desk, and he held his head in both hands, massaging his temple with the tips of his fingers. For some unknown reason, he had a headache, and his two bickering colleagues were not making it any easier for him.

"You alright there?" Inseong asked, peeking over his monitor to take a look at the other. Jiho didn't usually lose his calm that quickly, and the former frowned upon seeing the way the latter's fingers were pressed against his forehead.

"He's been having it pretty rough since the past few days," Hansol explained as he glanced over at Inseong, a sympathetic look passing his eyes for a couple seconds. "He didn't get any rest for a few nights."

Inseong frowned; granted, they all were quite busy, but even during the days when he had a lot of work pending to be done, he managed to catch at least an hour of sleep. It wasn't much to go on -- practically nothing, frankly -- but it allowed him to function for the rest of the day without feeling like he would pass out any second. If he still felt tired, the bland, tasteless, watered down coffee from the station's coffee machine helped sometimes. But this was the first time he had seen Jiho so utterly worn out.

"So, basically," he began, turning back to his partner, "you've been running on zero hours of sleep." His tone was reprimanding, somewhat bossy even, but it did its job as Jiho averted his gaze, refusing to meet the other guy's eyes. The frown on Inseong's face deepened, this kind of behaviour from Jiho was new. "Is something else bothering you?" He asked, and going by his tone, the other knew that this was one question that would be impossible for him to avoid.

He sighed, shrugging. "I'm just kind of worried about today's case. Taeyang-hyung is going to have his hands full, and that organ trafficking ring from ten years ago has not been easy to try and catch," he admitted, proceeding to bury his head in his hands.

"Aw, he's worried about his boyfriend-" Byungjoo cooed, but immediately shut up when he saw the glare Jiho threw at him.

"He's just a friend," Jiho insisted, rolling his eyes as he turned back to the computer. Inseong cleared his throat, fighting to wipe the smile off his face as he watched the exchange.

"Anyway," he piped up, "I think you need to rest. Go home early today, I'll take care of the rest of your reports."

"But-"

"No buts." There was a surprising air of finality to his words, making Jiho sigh again. He had no choice but to take up on the offer; his eyes had begun to close involuntarily, and the headache wasn't being any less torturous. The other three resumed their work, and Jiho felt slightly better as their casual but playful banter fell on his ears; he knew there were people in this world who cared about him.

 

Jihun was transfixed as he stared at the television in the café, mouth agape.

Having finished with his dance classes for the day, he had made his way to Seungjun's café to have a chat with the older man. Even before meeting Seungjun and the other three, he had had a strong liking towards cafés, and coffee shops in general, being able to spend hours alone in one. Inseong liked to joke about how he had sat in a coffee shop alone once for more than six hours.

This time, though, he was not alone. After just a few minutes of having started talking to Seungjun, they were joined by Oh Heejun, another one of their housemates, and the youngest of the five. He was training to be a professor, and currently worked as a teaching assistant in a nearby university. Because of their jobs, the two were the least busy out of all five, and would often end up in the café at the end of the day, usually to help the owner close the place up.

Beside him, Seungjun and Heejun were just as silent as they watched the news being broadcast on the channels. Not just them, though. It almost seemed like a spell had been cast on all the people present in the café. Understandable, really.

"You've got to be kidding me," the blond dancer whispered, the oldest letting out a low whistle as the newscaster continued his babble. "All these years, and they still haven't been caught?"

"I can never forget that one year," Heejun said. "My parents never let me go anywhere alone."

"Don't tell me this is going to cause nationwide panic once again..." Seungjun trailed off, a damp rag in hand as he absently wiped at the front counter, although he didn't clean a single stain with his eyes focused only on the screen in front of them.

 

Youjin did not know what to make of the news. He had a pretty good idea of how news channels managed to exaggerate everything, but this was no exaggeration. The headlines stared back at him from the small-sized television in his clinic in large, clear letters.

_'Trafficking gang from a decade ago makes a surprise visit'_

_'Dead woman found in trashcan, limbs separated'_

_'Where did her kidneys go?'_

He did not understand. Hadn't the perpetrators disappeared ten years ago? After killing seventeen innocent people, they had vanished completely, without a single trace of their whereabouts. So why were they back? And will the police be able to catch them this time?

The scene from his past flashed before his eyes, one that he had been trying to run away from for years. His teacher and role model had been one of the very first victims, brutally killed in his own house, as the police had reported later. One of the very few men he had looked up to had been taken away from him. It had been Youjin's worst luck to be the one to discover the body when he had gone to the park to play basketball with his friends.

"Doctor Kim?" The receptionist called out from the door as she peeked in, and he almost jumped, snapping out of his musings as he looked at her. "It's time to close up, Doc," she supplied with a smile as she pointed to a window, signalling that it was already dark out.

"Oh. Right," he mumbled, straightening up in his chair as he began to pack his things up, getting ready to go home.

 

Not a lot was said about the biggest news of the day during the five friends. They had tried talking about it, but upon noticing Youjin clamming up every time they mentioned it, and the awkward tension it left in the air, they decided to give up. Inseong could not think about it too much either, having been swamped with work right after. Secretly, he wondered if Chief Han had done it on purpose, to avoid any attention towards the particular case from anyone not directly involved with it.

That didn't stop the junior officers from finding out anything they could about the matter, though. A lot of them were either friends or acquaintances with a few of their seniors, especially those who were assigned to the case, and sometimes, even their seniors couldn't keep it all to themselves. Inseong couldn't blame them, however, it was natural human instinct to try and make others aware about the possible dangers; no one could predict who the next victim would be. Not even a couple days had passed, and it was already starting to feel like it had ten years ago. People all around them had started to refer to the murder as 'the first of a range of serial killings', seemingly finding it thrillingly terrifying to refer to the gang as a serial killer. Even the news channels had begun to use that term, and in a way, they were right. What else had the old murders been, if not for serial killings? Even if the main motive of the trafficking ring had been the kidneys, they had not left a single victim of theirs alive.

Barely a week had passed since the murder, and the atmosphere in the police station was still as tense as ever. The four junior detectives were busy at their respective desks when Inseong's phone buzzed. He kept his eyes on the papers on his table as his hand fumbled around blindly for the device, and he finally peeled his gaze away from the file to look at his phone, eyes widening in shock at the news notification that he had received from an application.

"Guys..." he whispered just as a couple of their seniors strode in purposefully, walking briskly towards the chief's cabin.

The other three watched the pair before turning to their colleague, all of them wearing similar expressions.

"Another one?" Hansol muttered in disbelief, eyebrows furrowing.

 

"Please, Jiho, _please_?" Inseong pleaded as he grabbed his partner by both arms, lightly shaking the other guy as he put on a pitiful face. Jiho rolled his eyes, shrugging off Inseong's hold on him as he took a step back.

"Inseong, try to understand. Ours is the Seoul branch, and the body was found in Gangneung. It will take some time to get all the information they need from that branch, and even after that, what makes you so sure that hyung is going to tell me everything so easily?" He retorted, sighing exasperatedly as he saw the pout on his partner's face.

"Alright..." Inseong said reluctantly as he stared at his feet, then looked up again to meet the other's eyes. "But promise me that you'll find everything out from him and then tell me," he insisted, and Jiho knew that no matter how much he tried, he couldn't refuse.

"I can't promise anything, but I'll try my best. I just have to ensure that he doesn't suspect anything, because I'm sure I'm the only one who keeps grilling him about this," he sighed again, shoulders slumping slightly.

 

He kept his promise as, the next day, he had a faint smile on his face as he met his partner at the café. Inseong perked up instantly at the sight of the other man, but held back from asking him about it for lack of privacy. Right after they were seated at their table, however, he looked at Jiho expectantly. The latter shook his head with a chuckle, resting his elbows on the table as he leaned forward.

"Why you're so interested in this is beyond me, but here goes... the second victim is Kim Minjeong, a forty-year-old doctor at the Medical Centre in Seongju."

 _Another doctor?_ Inseong thought, but stayed silent as Jiho continued.

"Her body was discovered in a trash bin behind a small eatery by one of the workers at the same eatery. It had been left in the same condition- six parts, no kidneys. Reported missing two days ago when she left her house, but never arrived for work, they guessed around eleven in the morning as the time she went missing. Estimated time of death is between seven-thirty to ten in the evening, on the same day."

"And when was the body discovered?" The other asked, his hands clasped together in thought with his elbows on the table.

"Yesterday afternoon, sometime after two. Employees at the restaurant claim that the road next to the trash bin is usually busy till late morning, after which, it becomes almost deserted," Jiho explained.

"Which means that the killers dumped the dead body between eleven and two," Inseong mused, glancing up at his partner. "Did anyone report seeing any suspicious people around the area?" He asked, sighing as the other guy shook his head.

 

During the entire walk to the police station, Inseong did not utter a single word, lost in thought with his hands inside the pockets of his trousers. Once or twice, Jiho tried to make him say something by nudging him, but to no avail.

It was not until they reached their desks that Inseong finally opened his mouth to speak, but was still silent as he sucked in some air, biting the corner of his lower lip as he sat down.

"What's bothering you?" His partner asked, beginning to get slightly worried as he frowned at the other.

Inseong pursed his lips, looking up at the guy in front of him, before leaning over his desk. "Don't you think there's something different between these cases and the old ones?" He mused, to which he received a frown and a shake of the head. Heaving a sigh, he sat back in his chair, looking around his desk as he grabbed the notepad and a pen from his bag, forgetting all about his pending work as he began scribbling in the notepad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I try to write some parts from the perspectives of other characters.
> 
> Hope this chapter didn't disappoint.


	4. Four

**Four**

 

It took him almost half an hour as Inseong finally looked up from his notes, staring at them as a deep sigh left his lips. From the other table, his partner gave him a glance, shaking his head before giving the other his full attention.

"So? What did you get?" Jiho asked, noticing the sudden brightness in the other guy's eyes.

"Well, either our seniors are too stupid, or they are so distracted by the possibility of getting any and all links to the trafficking ring, that they can't see that these are not the same cases as the ones ten years ago."

"You don't have to call them stupid," Jiho muttered, which Inseong promptly ignored as he stood up from his desk.

"The Chief is still in, right?" He asked, pointing a thumb towards the chief's office, waiting to receive the other's nod before hurriedly striding over to the cabin. He waited outside for a couple seconds as he breathed deeply, and then knocked on the door of the cabin.

"Yes, detective?" Chief Han asked when the younger opened the door and stepped inside.

Inseong could feel his heart hammering in his chest as he stood in front of the Chief, notepad clutched tightly in a hand. "Um, Chief, regarding these new cases about the trafficking ring, I have found some discrepancies from what I've heard the other officers say," he said cautiously, being careful as to not say a word about how he actually knew about the cases. The Chief would definitely not like it if he found out that one of his junior detectives was pestering his senior about the details, and Inseong would not want either Jiho or Taeyang to be on the receiving end of the older man's anger.

"I see..." the chief mused as he steepled his fingers together, resting his chin on the thumbs as he gazes evenly at Inseong. "And have I assigned you to these cases?" He asked, voice coming out stern and grim.

The junior detective blinked, straightening up as he shook his head quickly. "No sir."

"I thought so. Please get back to whatever work you are required to do."

 

Inseong had no option but to bow in apology, before bolting out of the chief's office. Once out of the cabin, he practically ran back to his desk, tossing his notepad on the table as he sat down with a groan. From where he sat, Jiho's gaze followed the other's every move, and the man cleared his throat.

"No luck?" He asked, fighting to keep the smirk off his face at the pitiful expression on his partner's face.

"None at all," Inseong grumbled, leaning over his table to peer at the computer, reluctantly getting back to work.

 

It was a little while after having had their lunch that Jiho took a break from his work, turning to Inseong. "Say, what exactly did you find out?" He asked, a slight frown on his face while his eyes showed genuine interest. The other guy rubbed his face with one hand, before reaching forward for the notepad, flipping the pages till he found the one he was looking for.

"For starters, the culprit -- or multiple culprits -- have broken a pattern from the old cases, while creating a new pattern, which is the occupation of the victims. Both victims were doctors, and it is possible that them being females is a pattern as well," he began explaining as Jiho nodded silently. "As far as breaking a pattern goes: in all of the old cases, the bodies were found in trashcans next to parks. But this time, only the first body was dumped in a park's trash bin, and the second was in a small restaurant's."

"Can you really call that a pattern, though?" Jiho asked, his frown deepening in thought. "I mean, maybe they didn't intend to use park bins to get rid of the bodies ten years ago."

"No, just think about it, Jiho," the other insisted, beginning to remember every single detail of the old cases. "The police had realised that the culprits favoured bins close to parks for some reason, and I recall them strengthening the security near almost all the parks in the country. Yet, the killers still managed to dump the bodies in those exact bins. That was most definitely not a coincidence, it was deliberate."

Jiho bit his lip, hesitating for a while before nodding in agreement. "Okay, but maybe they decided not to follow that pattern this time. Maybe it was just a coincidence that they decided upon a park for the first victim?"

Inseong shook his head. "That one was on purpose, they _wanted_ us be reminded of the old cases, so that when our attention has been switched to those, we won't care about any other details of the current murders. It's a carefully devised plan by whoever is doing this, and not a coincidence. The universe is rarely so lazy," he quipped, while still being serious.

"Alright, calm down, my Korean Sherlock," Jiho commented with a wary grin.

"Anyway," the other continued, "there's something else that could be considered as a pattern." He flipped another page of his notepad, scanning the contents of the page before looking back up at his partner. "Let's assume that, going by the rough timestamps we have, the first victim was kidnapped at nine on Monday last week, killed somewhere around seven in the morning on Tuesday, and the dead body was dumped at night on the same day, at ten. This coincides with the shadow I saw while going home, but it also gives us certain time gaps between each activity."

The other man blinked in slight confusion, taking a few seconds too many as per Inseong's standards to understand everything. "And what about those time gaps?" He asked keeping his voice low. He noticed how his partner was starting to get a little excited because of all the discoveries, and God knew how difficult it was for Inseong to stay quiet during such times.

"Comparing the estimated timestamps of the second case with the first one, I can say with certainty that the culprit waited for ten hours after kidnapping to kill the victims, and another fifteen hours to dump the bodies."

"You... what?" Jiho whispered, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Inseong. He had no idea how intelligent his partner really was. He let out a low whistle, settling back in his chair as a small smile appeared on his face. "Your powers of deduction are no joke, man," he said with a slight chuckle.

Inseong beamed, his face flushing a faint pink from the compliment as he kept the notepad away. "All of this is still mostly guesswork, though. If I had to talk about this in front of a judge in Court, it would be ruled as 'circumstantial evidence'," he said, pouting as he made air quotes around the two words with his fingers. "We'll need more evidence, and I'm afraid the only way to get it is..." he trailed off, looking at his partner worriedly.

"When there will be more of such cases," Jiho completed, sighing at the end of it. The two of them truly hoped that something of that sort won't happen.

 

Alas, the world was hellbent on going against their wishes.

Now, as adults, they could understand the urgency of the situation, and the true level of panic that was beginning to spread throughout the country once again as in the next week, another dead body showed up. The entire police force seemed to be on edge, and Inseong could clearly see the tense, taut looks on even the most junior police officers. He badly wanted to do something, _anything_ , to be able to contribute towards the case, but he knew that the chief would hear none of it. Which is why, right after hearing about the latest murder, he began making plans.

 

"What?!" Jiho all but screeched as he stared, wide-eyed, at Inseong.

"Shhh!" The latter was quick to place a hand on Jiho's mouth. He craned his neck, checking to see if anyone had heard his partner's shout. Only a couple heads had briefly glanced at them, however, so he sank back in the chair. "You don't have to be so loud."

The guy resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Inseong slowly lowered his hand. _Look who's talking._ His voice dropped to a whisper as he leaned closer to the other. "You can't be serious. Why should I steal the files from him?"

All he got from Inseong was a deep sigh as his colleague ran a hand through his hair. "No one's telling you to steal them, okay? Just tell Taeyang that you want to borrow them for a while, easy. You were the one who had said that you two are close."

"You idiot, that doesn't mean he's my boyfriend or something, who will do anything for me," Jiho muttered, burying his face in his hands.

"Isn't he?" Inseong joked, immediately pulling his lips into a pout as the other detective looked up at him.

"Oh, no, don't you dare give me that look," his partner warned, holding up a finger in front of him, but Inseong's puppy-like gaze was relentless.

" _Please?_ "

Jiho sighed, putting a hand to his forehead as he looked away from the other. "You owe me big time, dude."

Inseong's face instantly broke into a wide grin as he straightened up, hurriedly typing something on the computer. "Have I ever told you that you're the best? Because you are," he said, before gazing at the monitor, a hand cupping his chin in thought. He sat, motionless, for a few long seconds, suddenly standing up with his phone in hand.

"What are you doing?" Jiho asked, frowning at the other.

"Acting," his fellow detective answered with a wink, taking a deep breath, and Jiho watched as Inseong's facial expression changed completely into a look of distress, and he marched to the chief's office definitively before rapping on the door.

 

The junior detective had just finished typing a message to Taeyang about wanting to have a quick look at the case files, when Inseong walked out of the cabin and back to his desk, his disturbed expression giving way to an easy smile. Jiho narrowed his eyes at the other suspiciously.

"What did you do?" He asked, receiving a grin so bright, he almost felt that he would be blinded.

"I told the big boss about how I will need a few days' leave to take care of my sick mother in Daegu," was the other's confident reply.

"Are you crazy, Inseong?" His partner exclaimed, eyes widening in disbelief. "Now you're resorting to lies, just to be involved in this case?"

Inseong's brows furrowed as he stared disapprovingly at Jiho. "It was only half a lie, okay? My mother does live in Daegu, and I'll just give her a heads up about pretending to be sick if anyone asks her about it for confirmation. She will understand if I say this is for a case," he shrugged, proceeding to lean forward on his desk with his elbows propped up on the surface. "Now, can I expect the case files by today evening, please? I promise I'll return them before leaving tomorrow. I need to check out the crime scenes on my own, and try to find any key witnesses."

Jiho lowered his face in his palms, rubbing at his eyes before glancing up at Inseong. "You are taking a huge risk by trying to conduct an individual investigation, bunny. This might cost you your job, you know that, right?"

The latter nodded, expression slightly grim despite the former's use of his nickname. "I know. But I _have_ to risk it, if it means getting closer to catching the culprits."

 

"I knew it," Inseong muttered softly to himself as he sat at the table in the kitchen, hunched over the files scattered around him. "These are just copycat murders."

Once again, Jiho had proved to be a dependable partner by giving him the reports well before evening, and Inseong had quickly taken copies of the same before returning the originals to the other, as promised. He had to board a train at dawn, and he wanted to study as much of the case as he could before he had to leave. It had been quite late at night, but he continued working on it, Jihun having given up on trying to drag him to bed.

He could clearly see his theory about the time gap pattern coming true as he studied the third murder, the estimated timestamps roughly matching the ten- and fifteen-hour gaps he had calculated. The older cases had had no such pattern, since the trafficking ring had just gone about dumping the bodies haphazardly without any care for the timing. The only thing that was even remotely orderly ten years ago had been the trash bins near parks, and the copycat killer had definitely defied that, since the parts of the third body were found in a residential area, with nothing recreational close by.

He had been wrong about the victims being doctors, though. During the past week, he had even gone so far as to persistently cautioning Youjin about being extra careful. He, as well as the other three, had been very worried about the older man's health. Ever since the first murder, he had become quite nervous, and had begun to show signs of forgetfulness, and would often space out. However, as Inseong currently stared at the occupation of the third victim written on the paper, he knew he could rest easy; the thirty-seven-year-old man known as Kang Jaewon was a well-known florist in the small town of Boryeong, owning a modest, small-scale flower shop in the city.

"Why was the body found in Yeongyang, though?" He asked himself. "The cities aren't related," he mused as he brought up the autopsy photographs that had been included in the files. His face twisted into a slight wince as he took quick glances at the separated body parts that stared back at him through the photos. He blessed the heavens above for giving him a good enough tolerance for sights that would have made others queasy, for the condition of the dead bodies was certainly not something anyone could look at comfortably. Even from the photographs, he could tell that the cuts had been made cleanly, and the reports stated that the victims had been administered healthy doses of anaesthetics, in just the right amount as was necessary.

Inseong was no doctor, though, and he made a mental note to ask Youjin about the medical specifications when he came back from his little trips. A look at his wristwatch told him that it was time to leave for the train station, and he gathered all the papers, keeping the files carefully in the stroller suitcase that was lying open by his feet. After a final check of his trusty notepad, police badge, gun and mobile phone, he zipped up the suitcase, heading out of the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have actually stopped writing this completely due to lack of proper response from readers (if at all I have any), and the chapters I'm going to post have already been written and published long ago on AFF.  
> However, I'm willing to try and continue this if I feel that someone is interested in knowing what happens later on in the story. That is, I might continue if someone wants me to.


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